ROCKFORD — Robert Henry Lower will try for the 19th time to obtain parole on his 100-150-year prison sentence for killing 15-year-old Rockford newspaper carrier Joey Didier.

Lower, 75, has never received a single vote in favor of parole in his previous appearances before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. He has failed in 18 parole tries since he became eligible in 1985, according to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board. Each time it forces the Didier family to relive the crime and the grief they felt when Joey Didier was abducted and killed in 1975, said Joey's sister, Diane Didier-Adolphson.

The family fights each time to ensure Lower never walks free. He's been in various state prisons for 38 years; his current home is Graham Correction Center in Hillsboro.

"I would never be able to live with myself if he ever got out and got some other boy," Didier-Adolphson said. "He is definitely a very sick individual that needs to stay incarcerated for the safety of not only the Rockford community, but the state of Illinois."

Sign the online petition for or against Lower's parole

Supporters have already collected about 2,000 signatures in support of denying Lower parole. The Register Star and rrstar.com are now accepting online signatures for and against Lower's release from prison. There were roughly 20,000 signatures collected in 2011, the last time Lower was up for parole.

"I'd like to thank the Rockford community for their continual and heartfelt support," Didier-Adolphson said. "It means a lot to us that we're not alone in our fight."

See our special report page on the history of the Joey Didier case

Lower has said at previous parole hearings he no longer has the urge to hurt young boys and wants to be released so he can help other pedophiles avoid the route he took. He has completed several sex offender counseling programs, according to Register Star archives.

Joey Didier went missing March 4, 1975, not long after starting his morning newspaper route on Fulton Avenue in Rockford. His body was found 11 days later in a Boy Scout camp cabin in Jo Daviess County. He had been raped and strangled.

Before he was arrested, Lower involved himself in the search for Didier, which showed how calculated and planned the murder was, Winnebago County State's Attorney Joe Bruscato said. Lower later confessed to police that he couldn't sleep, so he went "driving around looking for a paperboy," according to Register Star archives.

The people of Winnebago and Jo Daviess counties have not forgotten this "heinous" crime, Bruscato said.

"It certainly remains as a forethought when we think of the most horrible crimes that have occurred in the history of Winnebago County," Bruscato said.

Bruscato was the first state's attorney to travel with the Didier family to help protest Lower's parole. He'll have help when he goes again this year from Jo Daviess County State's Attorney John Hay, who also plans to participate in the hearing on the behalf of the family.

Lower will appear before members of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board on Jan. 7 at Graham prison to appeal for parole. At the same time, Didier-Adolphson, Bruscato and Hay will meet with board members for a protest hearing at Dixon Correctional Center.

A full Prisoner Review Board is tentatively scheduled to hear the case and make a decision on Feb. 27 at the PRB office in Springfield.

Bruscato hopes, if Lower's parole is denied, the family won't have to revisit the crime for five years, the maximum distance allowed between parole hearings. State law changed in 2012 that allows parole hearings to be pushed to every five years, rather than every three. This is the first chance for the family to see that happen.

The Rockford City Council may also throw its weight behind an effort to deny Lower parole. Ald. Tom McNamara, D-3, said he is working with Mayor Larry Morrissey on a resolution and proclamation in support of Joey Didier and his family.

Kevin Haas: 815-987-1410; khaas@rrstar.com; @kevinmhaas

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